Shoe fastener



J. ELDRIDGE.

SHOE FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC 3. 1920.

1 942 %5 Patented Aug. 8, 1922..

' s 1? 9 1 win 19 1 .iiENF-fl'. BUTLr- JE, OF VTINNTPEG, BEANI'IOBA, CANADA.

SHOE FASTEHER.

Application filed December 3, 1920.

T at! "iv/20m may concern. 7

Be it knot-(n that T, Joins lfliinninon, of the city of vl innipeg in the Province of Manitoba, Canada, have invented certaln new and useful Improvements in Shoe Fasteners, of which the following is the specilication.

The invention relates to improvements in shoe fasteners and the object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed inexpensive and durable device which can be readily attached to a shoe or boot and which is adapted to fasten the boot and dispense entirely with the customary laces at present employed. Q A further object is to construct the device from metal an" to arrange it so that it can be made from few parts as possible and with the parts, with the exception of the spring latch. designed so that they can be stamped out in blank and afterwards folded to the proper shape.

A further object is to arrange the device so that where a number of them are emplo ed as is required in fastening a boot the sor latches employed can all be released together thereby inalring it a very simple operation for one to undo the shoe or boot.

With the above more important objects in view the in ention consists essentially in a receiving guide plate embodying fastening means, a spring latch carried by the guide plate and a catch adapted to be caught in the guide plate by the latch and provided also with fastening means, the parts being arranged and constructel as hereinafter more particula'ly described. reference bcin had to the accompanying drawing in represents a plan view of the toe wt)- 1 i A of a shoe sl owing my fastening means employed to fasten the shoe.

2 is an enlar d detailed plan view from the shoe.

catch. guide re device remove Fig. 3 is perspective view of the F e is perspective view of the plate and latch. A Tn the drawing li 'e characters of reference sponding parts in tle several ngures.

1 is a boot or shoe nt ed at the front with openings 2 and 3. he shoe or aoot is closed b lacing throu e eyelet holes. Accord in; to my inven e; T pro ide the Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Aug. 8 1922.

Serial No. 428,026.

fastening appliance now described it being understood that several of these are used and that in actual practice there would be probably fewer pairs of eyelet openings pro vided on the shoe than is required where it is closed by lacing. The fastener is now described in detail.

t is a guide plate fitted at one end with pair of inturned l.-shaped guide flanges and 6 and centrally with a pair of upturned comparatively long tongues 7 and 8 which have the upper parts brought together as indicated best in Figure & and their lower parts spread and elevated above the body of the plate to provide a guide open ing 9 in line with the guide opening 10 beneath the flanges.

The tongues are designed so that they can be readily passed through the customary eyelet openings of the shoe. The plate is also provided with side wings l1 and 11 which are formed into sleeves receiving a wire 12 which has one end formed into an eye 13 and the extremity of tne wire at the eye extended in a position at right angles to the wire body and forming a locking dog let. The dog extends slidably through a suitable opening 15 provided in the side of the flange 6.

Tn order to positively secure the wire in place the end of the plate is cut and the material thereof is pressed upwardly and downwardly to provide a sleeve like fasten ing 16 at the end of the plate which is tightly pressed to clamp the wire. The vire forms in reality a locking latch adapted to fasten the catch now described.

17 is a catch in the form of a narrow plate adapted to pass into the grooves 9 and 10 and having one side fitted with teeth 18. The plate is also provided with two upwardly extending tongues 19 and 20 similar to those 7 and 8, and which are adapted to sass through the customary eyelet openings provided in the shoe. When this appliance is to be used on a shoe a number of them are taken and the tongues 7 and 8 and those 19 and 20 are passed through the pairs of eyelets of the shoe. The upper ends of the tongues are then -flattened down to securely hold the guide plate and the catch in place. When this has been done one fastens his shoe by inserting the free end of the catch 17 into the grooves 9 and 10 and then by squeezing the two parts towards one another he firmly tightens the front of thti shoe and the catch locked to the plate by the end 14: of the latch which rides over and engages the teeth.

In order to allow one to quickly undo the shoe I have connected the eyes 13 of the latches by a pulling string 21 which terminates at the top of the shoe Obviously one by pulling the string 21 will simultaneously withdraw all the dogs let and in so doing Will release the catches andv permit of thevshoe being opened.

From the above it will be apparent that this provides a very quick, simple and 'eflicient device for fastening shoes in the place of laces and that the varlous parts, with the exception of the latch, are so arranged that they can be quickly stamped from blank sheets of metal, the whole device embodying only three parts in its construction, and all of which can be cheaply made and quickly put together.

pair of fastening tongues adapted to fasten the plate to one side of the shoe, a spring latch attached to the plate and provided with a dog operating through one of the guide flanges, an eye adjacent to the dog, and a toothed catch adapted to be received between the guide flanges and with the dog engaging the teeth, said catch being fitted with fastening tongues adapted to fasten the catch to the other side of the shoe and a pulling string attached to the eye.

Signed at the city of Winnipeg, in the Province of Manitoba, this 18th day of August, A. D., 1920.

'Joi-iN nnnninen In the presence of GERALD S. ROXBAUGH, j K. B. WAKEFIELD. 

